


[HOME]

by electroheartx



Series: “Rose” RM500 #928 574 624 [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Gen, OCs - Freeform, RP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-08-01 11:23:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16283678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electroheartx/pseuds/electroheartx
Summary: A reunion.





	[HOME]

**Author's Note:**

> [Part of a post-machine Connor ending AU featuring original characters.]

Rose stepped onto the front porch of the safe house, closing the door quietly behind her. Squinting into the dark, her eyes adjusted to see a tall, ragged figure standing a few feet down the street. Silhouetted in the raw embers of the lone street lamp, hair a ratty mess, he was staring up at the house with a stupid grin plastered on his face. As the door slid shut with a soft click, the figure’s attention shifted to her.

“Nice digs,” echoed a familiar voice. Rose’s heart leapt into her throat, the roulette of emotions erupting stronger than ever.

“Reese!” She breathed, and threw herself off the porch steps and into his arms. He caught her easily, pulling her tight.

“Hey, Bud.” He chuckled as she buried her face in the thick leather of his jacket, ruffling her hair with one hand. “Long time no see.”

She made small muffled noises into his chest. He laughed again, kissing the top of her head and taunting her. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I—“ She pulled away from his arms to breathe, stepping back to get a better look at him. Compared to the last scan of him she had in memory, he looked… well, not older, of course, but more… worn. More holes in his jeans, more scuffs on his jacket, a little more of a tired expression on his face, despite his grin. She tripped over her words, too many thoughts happening at once. “I can’t believe -- H -- W-- why are you here?”

Reese sighed, said grin slowly dissolving. Hers vanished as well in response, the apprehension rising. “It’s… well. A bit of a story.” He glanced over her shoulder at the house. “Is anybody in there?”

Rose followed his look. “...Yes, a few people. We should…” She paused, hung with a bit of guilt at the friends she’d left stunned behind the front door. “I’m sure you’re tired, but we should probably catch up out here before I introduce you.”

Reese nodded, and the two of them took a seat on the porch steps, wood creaking gently beneath their weight. The street lamp buzzed softly, its amber glow barely enough to illuminate the edges of the street. Dogs argued in the distance, drowned by the occasional hum of a car engine and the hiss of leaves in the wind.

Rose folded her hands and looked expectantly at Reese, mind humming. He caught her glance and nodded, letting out a long breath.

“Alright, so…” He bowed his head. “The short version. About two weeks ago, a hunter tracked us home. Safe house was compromised, everyone got scattered. We tried to regroup, but the hunters organized and combed the area for deviant activity. We lost almost half of our people.”

Rose opened her mouth, then closed it again, speechless. She’d only seen Reese’s safe house through his memories — when he’d rescued her, he was on a mission, a bit far from home — but it had been a massive operation, incredibly well-organized and defended. So many people, all of them friends, and all of it just… gone. In a single night.

“I… I’m so sorry…” She breathed. “What happened to the rest of the survivors?”

“Most moved on to Elysium. They’ll be safer there. I…” He shook his head, his face hardening. “I’m not quite ready to do that yet.”

“How… how did they find you? You’re so careful...” Rose trailed off as Reese’s jaw tensed, his eyes boring holes in the dirt.

“I don’t know.”

There was more to this story than he was letting on, but Rose decided to let it lie for now. He’d tell her more when he was ready. He glowered in silence until Rose placed a hand gently on his back; he breathed sharply at her touch, lifting his face and blinking.

“It’s just a part of it, y’know?” He said, shaking his head. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you… don’t. You gotta take the losses as they come.” He sniffed and jerked his head toward the house behind them. “I don’t need to be telling you this, you already know.”

Rose nodded. Flashes of Steady, attempting to repaint the walls for a fourth time because the chemical makeup in thirium had reacted badly to the last paint she’d used to cover the stains. Aria, sobbing her arms. Screams. A bullet in her head, then another. A gun in her own hands, shaking hands pulling the trigger. Deviants tearing themselves and each other apart in front of her, in grief, in rage, cursing humanity. A room filled with blood and spare parts, not freely given. Dallas scowling. Noah smiling. Watching a hunter let himself die rather than be free. Black-door protocol.

She already worried over every worst-case scenario she could possibly calculate dozens of times on repeat until she was sick, working the parameters to find the best solution with the least amount of casualties. She hadn’t told anyone that her Cyberlife connection had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. If she died now… all that mattered was that they survived her.

But if Reese, of all people, didn’t know how he’d been caught, how could she prevent —

She blinked and shoved the thoughts away. This moment was not the time to spiral.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied quietly.

Reese inhaled deeply. “Anyway. “ He cleared his throat; unnecessary, but an involuntary integration tic that lingered in his programming nonetheless. “I meant what I said about good work. That’s part of why i came up here; I’ve been hearing a lot about you.”

Rose shifted, curious. “What? From whom?”

“Other deviants.” Reese turned to her, eyebrows raised. “I’ve met a bunch of androids who’ve crossed paths with you, on their way to Elysium or otherwise. They talk about you all the time, about how patient and compassionate you’ve been.”

Rose breathed in to combat the constricting feeling in her chest. People… people talking about her? “...Oh.”

Reese tilted his head, giving her a sideways smile. “I’m really proud of you, you know that?”

“I…” She turned away from him, bowing her head beneath her hair to hide the wet shine in her eyes. Her voice trembled. “Yeah. Thank you.”

Rose could feel his eyes on her. A long silence.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly.

She put her face in her hands. “Sometimes… sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’ve done anything at all.” Her mind flashed back to the lonely living room sofa, her friends vanishing upstairs when she asked about their lives. “Not physically, with the operations we’re doing, but in terms of…” 176 names, 116 unread messages. “Like if I disappeared tonight, someone else would just take over, and that would be it. It wouldn’t make a single difference to anyone, in the long run, whether I was here or not.”

“I mean, I guess not, if we’re talking about the heat-death of the universe.” Reese shrugged. She shot him a dirty look, and he threw up his hands. “Come on, Bud. You may not hear it because they’re busy or scared or out of range, but what you’ve done matters. You gave them their lives, to do with as they wish. Even if it’s just for a little longer, even if Cyberlife steps up their bullshit again and we all end up trashed… you gave them a chance, and they remember you for it.” He clapped a hand on her back, knocking the wind out of her a bit. “Not many people could be so patient. The kind of compassion and strength you have is in woefully short supply. Even I lose my shit all the goddamned time, you know that.”

Rose breathed in, smirking a little at that last line. “It... it would just be nice to hear it, once in a while. That’s all.”

“Well, I’ve heard it. I can show you, if you want.” Reese held out his hand, but she shook her head and turned away.

“No… no, it’s fine.”

Silence fell between them. The wind picked up slightly, the smell of damp earth carried in the air. Rose stared out into the shadows, eyeing the bare street with a wary look, scanning for trouble even now.

Reese took this opportunity to examine her more closely, making his own comparisons to the android he’d left in the green fields. Without her serial number as confirmation, he might have thought she was a different person entirely. Same face, same eyes, same wild veil of red, but… he remembered her expression on the hillside, and how she glowed, vibrant with optimism and anticipation, ready to take on the world. Now… he watched the way she wrung her hands, ran her nails along her fingertips with a nervous energy. Eyes roving the night, half-lost in the darkness of her own thoughts. He knew that empty, desolate expression all too well, having seen it way too many times in the mirror.

“Something happened, ” he said, suddenly. She turned to him, brows raised.

“What?”

He leaned toward her, elbows digging into thighs. “What was it? You can tell me.”

Rose‘s brows knitted together. Could… could he see it? Was it that obvious? “I don’t... I don’t know. There have been a lot of things--”

Reese waved a hand gently, batting the Things away. “I don’t mean with the deviants, or the house, or any of this. I mean with you, personally.”

She blinked at him, hesitating. “I...”

Reese sighed. “Rose—“

“Reese,” she snapped, the use of her actual name setting her on edge. He fell silent, and she paused, gathering her thoughts. He was right, there was something wrong, but... “I genuinely don’t know.” Rose laced her hands together, concentrating on the pressure of her knuckles to relieve the same feeling in her mind. “I feel… empty. And wrong. Like, something’s missing, and there… there’s no reason for it. I don’t even know when it started, or why.” She bit her lip. “I just… it’s so stupid. I don’t have time to be feeling this way.”

Reese watched her carefully. “You need to take care of yourself, too, you know. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s better to deal with it now than run away, or keep it locked up.”

The comment grated on her, but she wasn’t sure why. “How am I supposed to deal with it when I don’t know what it is?”

“Maybe, you just need a break to sort things out?”

Rose rested her head in her hands, pushing her cheeks up in resignation. “...Maybe we really are better off feeling nothing at all,” she muttered, only half-joking.

“Hey, now.” Reese bumped her shoulder with the back of a patterned hand, causing her to roll her eyes up at him. “I seem to remember a fiery new deviant giving me a lecture, way back when.” He fingered the silver pendant around his neck as he accessed the memory directly. This was something he used to do often, mostly to tease her, but the context now was earnest. He turned toward the dark street, breathing deep.

“‘Our emotions are a part of what makes us alive.” Using Rose’s own voice, he recited her words into the night. “They allow us react to and truly exist as a part of our world. Even if it hurts like hell. Especially if it does. It’s part of the experience of living a life. If we couldn’t feel anything at all… what would we be fighting for?’”

Silence. And there the tears finally were, rolling down Rose’s face and spotting the dry planks of the porch; she bent forward, pressing the sleeves of her sweater into her eyes. Hearing herself, filled with a hope and passion she’d almost forgotten, shook her to her core; six months felt like a lifetime ago.

Reese leaned an arm over and pulled her tightly to his side. He rested his head on hers as her shoulders heaved, eyes closed, fingers of his other hand still tangled in the silver chain around his neck.

She hadn’t been able to cry like this in six months; been too busy, too stressed, too afraid to concern her loved ones in the tension of their own lives. There was too much riding on her; she simply couldn’t afford to break, lest the rest of the house come crumbling down on top of her. But with Reese’s reappearance, she’d felt herself crack; he knew her better than anyone, he always had. A second foundation. He let her vent in silence, without judgment, simply holding her in place so she wouldn’t lose her grip on existence entirely.

When the dust settled, she felt… better. More secure. Even still, the guilt of being vulnerable remained. Even still, that empty, swirling maw in the back of her mind.

She sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeves. “I’m so sorry, you just got here,” she said as soon as she was able to speak, “I doubt you were expecting such a disaster.”

Reese snorted, brushing his hand across his own eyes. “Couldn’t be much more of a disaster than what I left.”

She laughed, despite herself. “Famous last words.”

“Yeah? Well how about these for some good first ones?” Reese leaned down to look at her tear-stained face. The light of the street lamp caught the pockmarks over his dark eye, glinting off the distortions in the plastic beneath. “We’re all just doing the best we can, and we’re stronger together.”

Rose looked up at him, silver and brown peering back at her beneath a mop of curls. She stretched an arm around Reese and squeezed him back, hoping she could hold him just as well as he did her.

“I love you, you know that?” she said, half-muffled by his shoulder.

Reese made a sound in his throat, something between a chuckle and a sob.

“Yeah, I know. I love you too, Bud.”

A sound came from inside the house. They peeled apart, glancing over their shoulders at the dark front door. Home. To both of them, now.

“I supposed I should introduce you to the house, then,” said Rose, picking herself up and dusting splinters from her clothes.

Silence.

“Hello, House.”

The thwap of a hand on a leather jacket, followed by stifled laughter, echoed from the porch.

**Author's Note:**

> Soundtrack:  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/7C0yPWHEwTPQ4xqOz96Aro?si=Z-nuJP6ZTHmjmkHHFIf_5g


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